GILROY
– Fire department officials are calling a three-month-old
telephone first-aid program an
”
interim
”
but
”
successful
”
approach to giving medical help as fast as possible to Gilroy
victims.
GILROY – Fire department officials are calling a three-month-old telephone first-aid program an “interim” but “successful” approach to giving medical help as fast as possible to Gilroy victims.
Dispatchers are surpassing a national standard for sticking to emergency protocol when callers must be instructed to give first aid to victims before medical help arrives.
However, the Gilroy Fire Department says technical limitations and its reliance on San Jose-based dispatchers is keeping the first-aid program from being as good as it can be.
“We’re at the same level of compliance as the National Academy of Emergency Dispatchers requires to remain accredited,” said Geoff Cady, the GFD’s systems analyst.
Ninety percent compliance or better to a checklist of questions and advice for dealing with heart attacks, drownings, seizures, choking and several other kinds of emergencies is required for accreditation.
As it stands now, telephone first aid calls are limited to three conferencing parties at a time – the caller, the Gilroy dispatcher and the San Jose-based dispatcher trained to give first-aid instruction over the phone.
For many calls, the three-way line is plenty. But when the caller needs English translation, a fourth party – the interpreter – must join the call and the Gilroy dispatcher must hang up.
“It’s important to note that medical help gets sent before telephone first aid starts,” Cady said. “So (non-English speaking) callers are getting help in the same amount of time as English-speaking callers.”
The technical solution to the problem is increasing the conference call capacity. But Cady said the fire department has not yet determined the cost of adding four-line capability.
“We need direction from the City Council to know how much of a priority this (program) is,” said Cady. “Ultimately it’s a budget decision.”
City Council began 2004-05 budget talks in October. Talks will reach their latter stages in April and a final budget must be set by July 1.
Another solution involves training Gilroy dispatchers to handle telephone first aid without San Jose personnel.
Santa Clara County and the City of Gilroy entered a $25,000 year-long contract for telephone first aid last summer. It is the same program that just weeks ago received much media attention after a Bay Area man delivered a child for his wife because no medical help was around.
“Eventually we want to get our own dispatchers trained, because every time you do a call transfer there’s that chance someone can get disconnected,” Cady said when the program was approved last summer. “But right now we see this as a good trial period to get people acquainted with the program. This is another one of those lifesaving resources (the GFD) feels you can’t really put a price tag on.”
